Egypt: Christian sentenced for anti-Islam posts

CAIRO – An Egyptian court has upheld a six-year jail sentence for a Coptic Christian school teacher convicted of insulting Islam and the country's new Islamist president in postings on Facebook.

Egypt's MENA state news agency says a court in the southern province of Sohag agreed with a lower court ruling that found Michelle Bishoy, also known as Bishoy el-Behiri, guilty of blasphemy after posting pictures that were deemed offensive to Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The court also upheld Bishoy's conviction on charges of insulting Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

Thursday's ruling can be appealed.

The case is the second this month in which a Coptic Christian has been detained for posting material considered anti-Islamic on social networking sites.

It also comes after violent protests in several Muslim countries over an anti-Islam film.